Nutrition 101
{This is the print out I gave to clients/potential clients when I worked as a full-time personal trainer/nutritionist. I ended up quiting this job because the owner of the gym sold the gym. I did very well with my clients—in a period of two (2) years . . . one male client lost 100 lbs, and another female client lost 70 lbs . . . this weight lost transformed their lives. I did very well with quite a few other clients as well. So much so, that I had one, (obviously wealthy), doctor offer me any hourly rate I chose to train him—after I had quit. Sorry for the quality of this—it was saved on an old version of Microsoft Office & did not transfer very well}.
Factoid:
Obesity/poor diet/lack of excersise is the 2nd leading cause of death in America . . . (and it means living a life that sucks)
Nutrition 101
What Your Mother Never Told You, Because She Did Not Know
Written by yourmomlied.com
B.S. Journalism, Texas A&M University
AFAA Nationally Certified Trainer (2003-2005)
Introduction
I talk to people daily who tell me that they lose weight on just about every diet they have tried. They then tell me that they not only gain the weight back, but they gain back even more weight. Their frustration is not a joke. It is all too real and the never-ending weight-gain weight-loss rotation has lead to a tremendous decrease in the quality of their life. This is clearly seen by the ever-growing health problems suffered by millions of Americans. Diabetes is a growing epidemic; unless you have been living in a van down by the river you already know this. Heart disease kills about 500,000 Americans every year. Encountering this endless cycle of misery a ridiculous number of times has lead me to complete this paper. This is a very emotional topic. Be careful. Do not believe everything you read or hear. Be cynical. Investigate. Research. And when you are confident you have found the truth, do not dip your toe into the water. Dive in.
Who is The Writer?
There is nothing particularly special about me except for my ability to communicate a Cliff Notes version of an infinite barrage of information and disinformation. I do not have 7% body fat (anymore), nor do I have every answer. I have bad habits, which I constantly battle and too often lose, especially as I get older. You will not see me on the cover of a fitness magazine next to a fitness model. But because of the good things I continue to do right, I am extremely healthy and strong. I will never have a beer belly, nor will I be diabetic. The impact of my bad habits are minimized because of the things I do right. You too have bad habits. You may not be able to change these. What you can do is focus on the things you can change. After you do this, I promise you the other obstacles will not be as ferocious.
O.K. What Should I Change?
People ask me every day how they should eat. Or they ask me about this diet, or that diet. I then ask them what kind of diet is Mr. And Miss Fitness U.S.A. on. There is a long silence followed by a deer in the headlights look from the person. Silence is sometimes good; in this case it truly is golden. I can see the wheels start to turn as I continue to answer their question by asking them questions. The people who have most dramatically re-shaped their bodies are on what diet I ask. Silence. I continue. Are they on Weight Watchers? Jenny Craig? The Zone Diet? The Atkins Diet? Richard Simmons? No. In fact, they are on none of these. They do not diet.
So, if these people are not on a diet of any type, then what great secret do they hold? It would seem logical to figure out what this select group of fitness enthusiasts and professionals are doing.
Change Your Perspective, Seriously
Start admiring the people who have successfully struggled, changed their lifestyle, chiseled a new body, and maintained it. And copy them.
Stop admiring genetically gifted freaks that have no body fat, are born with perfectly symmetrical bodies, and eat whatever they want all day long. Re-direct your energy from hating them to learning from the ones who have overcome. These overly blessed genetic oddities make up about .01% of the population and have done very little if anything to look the way they do. So why do what they do? From my experience, 99% of these people have absolutely nothing to offer. They are extremely proud of their physiques, and have every right to do so. However, it is the ones who struggle successfully, and learn, and constantly seek to learn that you must pay attention to. Why are they successful? What kind of magical food are these people eating? And what portion sizes do they eat? And how many times a day? Why don’t people simply look at the ones who have successfully struggled and maintained a great physique and say, “I’ll have what he’s having.”
I don’t know why, you tell me.
This is not rocket science
When my father graduated from college, he had job offers from NASA, the FBI, and IBM. He chose NASA. He has now retired from NASA after serving for 30 years. He is a brilliant engineer holding various patents and is president of his own successful electronics manufacturing company. He also helped design one of the first radar devices used by NASA to bounce signals off of the moon and back to earth to gauge a true distance. This refrigerator-looking device is still on display at the Johnson Space Center museum. He is truly a brilliant engineer; to this day I am sincerely amazed when I see the many devices and designs he develops.
Unfortunately, my father has absolutely no comprehension as to what the “Nutrition Facts,” on a box of Cheerios means. He is not alone. There is a huge group of educated and successful people at the top of their field who go into the grocery store with this same dilemma.
The people with the best bodies are not all genetically gifted. Indeed, some are. We all envy them, myself included. But many are not. We should learn to respect those who have overcome less than perfect genes. (Yes, this is the second time I have said this).
The ones who are not blessed with perfect genes are eating at least 5 or 6 times a day, sometimes more through healthy snacks. Each meal, or snack, consisting of quality protein and a complex carbohydrate. {See the list of approved proteins and carbohydrates on pg. 11}. That’s it. It’s that simple. No rocket science here.
Why Diets Do Not Work
People tell me they have tried every diet on planet earth. Then they tell me that they just gain the weight back. This is because diets do not work. Let me explain why.
When most people diet, they stop eating (ladies are you listening)? When you stop eating, you will accomplish a few things:
1. You will lose a minimal amount of fat
2. You will lose muscle
3. You will lose water weight
Do you realize what you have just done? You are slowly destroying your only long-term weapon against fat. Muscle. When you stop eating, your body still requires energy to function. Energy comes from calories (food). If there is no food, your body has two storage areas for calories: muscle and fat. So when you stop eating your body starts to consume both.
So How Do I Keep Muscle?
Your body needs two things to build muscle: protein and carbohydrates consumed in the same sitting. Not just protein, and not just carbohydrates but both of them together. When people start dieting, most of them drastically reduce their caloric intake, and do not consume enough protein or carbohydrates. They then start to lose weight and get excited. Yes, they are losing some fat. Unfortunately, they are also losing precious muscle and more often water weight, especially on extremely low or no carbohydrate diets. {For further explanation, see how bodybuilders prepare for competition in the upcoming chapter II}.
Remember, muscle burns fat. The more muscle you have, the more fat you burn. And when people diet, they lose fat, precious muscle, and even more water. Let me say the same thing in a different way. When people diet, they are destroying their weapon against fat—muscle. The dieter hoping for a quick fix has just successfully taken one-step forward and 10 steps backward.
How Does Muscle Burn Fat?
For every 1 lb of muscle in an adult female, the body will burn between 30 to 45 calories per day. (An adult male burns between 45 to 60 calories a day for every 1 lb of muscle. One pound of fat burns a mere 3 to 4 calories per day). So, if a lady starts a structured weight training routine, and gains 5 pounds of muscle in three months, then how much has she increased her fat burning? We will call her, “Star.” Let’s say that Star has an extremely slow metabolism, and only burns 30 calories a day for every 1lb of muscle gained.
O.k., 5lbs muscle X 30 calories = 150 calories
So Star is burning 150 calories a day more because of this added muscle. Doesn’t seem like much does it? Now, let’s look at how many calories Star will burn if she maintains this muscle over a period of one year:
150 calories X 365 days =54,750 calories
Wow.
To understand what this means, you need to understand that it takes 3500 calories to put on one pound of dreaded fat:
3500 calories = 1 lb fat
If we divide the total calories this extra five pounds of muscle is burning, by 3500 calories, the impact is tremendous:
54,750 cals/3500 cals = 15.6 lbs of fat
Big wow!
So simply by starting an intelligent weight-training program, and gradually putting on a mere 5 lbs of muscle, Star will drop at least 15 lbs of fat.
Muscle burns fat.
O.K., So How Exactly Should I Do This??
1. Do not diet. (This is the second time I have put this in bold in case you were wondering. Diets do not work. How many times do we have to go through this)?
2. Eat at least 5 to 6 times per day a combination of quality protein and complex carbohydrates, with proper portion sizes. {See the “Magical Food” list on pg. 11}. Unless you are a morning person, you must prepare your food the night before. Carry a small (cooled) igloo with you to work. Your co-workers may tease you at first, then as you begin to shrink, they will quietly pull you aside and respectfully ask for your advice. I am not kidding.
3. Work out intelligently with weights. This means work out with a friend who (hopefully) knows what they are doing, or see #7.
4. Implement an intense cardio routine on the days you are not weight training. The rule on cardio is doing what you enjoy.
5. Use supplements (meal replacement powders and bars) to help you reach your goal of 5 to 6 meals per day. If you try to prepare this many meals every day, you will be calling Dr. Phil in a fit of whining. A word of warning on the bars. There is evidence that some of the new better tasting bars (such as “Detour”), have significantly more sugar and calories than is stated on the Nutrition Facts. “Lean Body” bars and “Myoplex” Low Carb bars are safer choices in my opinion; they have been around for a while and taste great too.
6. Have a designated cheat day one day a week. {See “Glorious Cheat Day,” below}
7. Get professional assistance. Training with weights properly is a science and an art. Do not kid yourself. Working out is also a great deal of fun. Most people are somewhat stunned to find themselves upset at missing a work out, not to mention the increased energy and vigor that they receive. Just remember, those who say they will, “pick it up over time,” are the same ones who end up wasting their time because they have let their ego override reality. I have trained many successful people including doctors and some of the wealthiest people in Houston. These people are at the top of their field and highly respected. But they have no idea how to work out, just as I have no idea how to be a doctor, and I have not yet become one of the wealthiest people in Houston.
Resistance training takes time, patience, and discipline. And once you have learned proper form, breathing, and range of motion, it will increase the quality of your life in more ways than I, nor anyone else, could put on this paper. We gain our weight over a period of years; it will take at least some time to remove it. Be patient and your pants will be hanging off of you.
Glorious Cheat Day
Ahhhh, cheat day. One day a week you need to eat anything and everything you want. That’s right. Anything. All daylong. If you want three pizzas, go for it. If you want ½ gallon ice cream, a box of cookies, and two-dozen donuts please help yourself. And the next day begin eating properly. This cheat day serves two purposes:
1. Prevents your body from going into starvation mode. You must understand that fat = survival to your body. Your body doesn’t care that you want to fit into that bathing suit. Your body wants to survive. So if your body sees that you are losing fat, it sends out an alarm to stop releasing your fat. That’s not good. So what you have to do is pull the wool over your metabolism’s eyes and do a little manipulation. The purpose for the cheat day is simply to fool your body. After you have your cheat day, your body happily resumes releasing fat.
2. Provides a mental and psychological break from your eating schedule that everyone needs. No one can stay on the same routine without some type of break. No, not even Dr. Phil. Definitely not Oprah.
One of The Biggest Nutrition Myths
1. “If I buy fat free food, I’ll lose weight.”
a. True
b. False
Your body needs fat to survive. And, if you completely cut out all fats, it will be even more difficult for you to drop fat. Just as the, “Glorious Cheat Day,” works on a weekly basis, adding a little fat every day works on a daily basis as well. It’s that simple.
Let me approach it another way. When you completely cut out fat on your regular non-cheat days, the guys running your metabolism control center send out an alarm to all your fat cells. And you are not going to like it. The alarm signal is to hold on to all remaining fat cells.
To prevent this from happening, you need to consume small amounts of fat every day in addition to your once a week cheat day. By consuming small amounts of the “good” fats, your metabolism control center will be more at ease, and will, therefore, allow the fat burning process to continue. (Fat is vital to your health and your body’s proper operation. Adding small amounts of good fat to your diet will also significantly help your body add more muscle, not to mention elevate your mood especially Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids). But one must understand that there are two kinds of fat. Good fat and bad fat.
Good Fats
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Avocado
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Sunflower seed
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Pumpkin seeds
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Cold-water fish
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Natural peanut butter
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Low-fat cheese
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Low-fat salad dressing
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Low-sodium nuts
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Udo’s choice (oil)
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Olives/olive oil
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Safflower oil
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Canola oil
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Sunflower oil
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Flax seed oil
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Fats To Avoid
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Butter
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Fried foods
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Mayonnaise
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Sweets
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Whole fat dairy products
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Now, you need to understand that even good fats should only be consumed in moderation. Most of us understand this. What most people do not understand is what happens when you cook with “good” fat. When a good fat such as olive oil is used while cooking, a molecular change occurs due to the heat. This heat causes the oil to become hydrogenated, or commonly known as saturated or trans-fatty. This is not good. Because you have heated this oil, this once good fat has now become no different than fat found in fast food. So, if you are going to use oil while cooking, use it sparingly, and only if necessary. Otherwise, simply ad it to your food AFTER you have cooked.
Myth #2
2. If I do 300 crunches for my stomach every day, it will help to burn fat off my belly.
a. True
b. False
You cannot reduce fat from one area of your body unless you have liposuction. Period. And liposuction is more trouble than it is worth considering the fact that you’ll just gain it right back. Spot reducing, (eliminating fat from one area of your body), is a myth.
Ladies, that annoying flab hanging off your arms, (triceps), that drives you nuts will not come off from doing arm excercises.
When you lose body fat, you lose it over your entire body. You do not lose fat from one particular part of your body no matter how hard you work it.
Yeah, Yeah, I Know What You Are Thinking
True, you can firm up the muscle underneath the flab, but this will have little change in your appearance by itself. Your eating habits have a much greater impact on your ultimate goal of fat reduction, especially at the start up of your new lifestyle. Let me break it down:
Flab Reduction Over Three Months
Proper Eating: 70% impact
Weight Training/Cardio: 30% impact
Flab Reduction Over One Year
Proper Eating: 60% impact
Weight Training/Cardio: 40% impact
Flab Reduction Over Five Years
Proper Eating: 50% impact
Weight Training/Cardio: 50% impact
As you can see, the longer you implement weight training (and cardio), the more impact it has on your fat loss. Is this ringing a bell? Please tell me it is. Remember, muscle burns fat. The more muscle you develop over the years, known as mature muscle, the more energy your body needs. Energy comes from calories. Some of those calories come from stored body fat.
Proper Eating Is Priority #1
Let me put this another way. If you change your eating but do absolutely no weight training or cardio, you can eventually (and quite temporarily) reach your fat loss goal. That’s right, you don’t really have to work out. And many people, (ladies), do just that. Now, if you do work out, it will certainly speed up the process. Just as importantly, when someone grabs your arm, his or her fingers won’t go straight to your bone. And of course, if you do weight train, you are building one of the most potent weapons in the long term against fat. Even if you do lose the fat just through eating properly, you will almost certainly gain it back without this muscle.
If you do not change your eating, but start an intense weight training/cardio routine, you will never reach your fat loss goal.
Eating –for- LIFE Authorized Foods
I like to refer to them as:
Magical Foods
Proteins
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Carbohydrates
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Vegetables
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Chicken breast
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#1 Sweet potato
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Broccoli
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Turkey breast
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#2 Red Potato
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Asparagus
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Lean ground turkey
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#3 White baked potato
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Lettuce
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Swordfish
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Yam
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Carrots
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Orange roughy fish
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Squash
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Cauliflower
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Haddock fish
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Pumpkin
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Green peppers
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Salmon fish
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Steamed brown rice
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Mushrooms
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Tuna
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Steamed wild rice
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Spinach
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Crab
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Pasta
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Tomato
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Lobster
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Oatmeal w/o sugar
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Peas
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Shrimp
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Barley
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Brussels sprouts
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Top round steak
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Beans
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Artichoke
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Top sirloin steak
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Corn
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Cabbage
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Lean ground beef
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Strawberries w/Splenda
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Celery
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Buffalo
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Melon
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Zucchini
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Lean ham
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Apple
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Cucumber
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Egg whites or substitutes
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Orange
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Onion
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Low-fat cottage cheese
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Fat-free yogurt
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Vegetarian Products
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Whole wheat bread
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Tempura
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Rice cake
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Seitan
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Popcorn
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Tofu
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Tortilla
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Texturized vegetable protein
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Vegetables
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Soy foods
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Whole grains
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Veggie burgers
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Fruits
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Choose a portion of protein and carbohydrates from each column to make a meal. Add a serving of vegetables to at least two of your daily meals.
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O.K., Now I Know What To Eat, But How Much Protein & Carbohydrates Should I Eat?
Women: Should consume 20-30 grams of protein and a complex carbohydrate the size of their clenched fist 5 to 6 times a day, every 2.5 to 3 hours.
Men: Should consume 35-40 grams of protein and a complex carbohydrate the size of their clenched fist 5 to 6 times a day, every 2.5 to 3 hours.
Even Though I Just Told You How Many Grams of Protein You Should Have, Use Portion Size Rather than Counting Grams & Calories (or You Will Start To Slowly Pull Your Hair Out)
A portion of protein is the size of your open palm. A portion of carbohydrates is the size of your clenched fist. This will greatly help you in most situations. So if you go out for a steak dinner, and they bring you out a huge chicken fried steak, and a potato the size of your head, you can simply glance at your palm next to the steak and know that you only need that much. You can then look at your clenched fist next to your potato and realize that you only need that much. Now you have the knowledge; the will to do the right thing is up to you.
A Few Exceptions To Every Rule
As a general rule, use portion sizes rather than counting calories. And, as a general rule, use portion size rather than counting protein and carbohydrate grams. However, not all protein can be so easily gauged by your open palm. It is obviously much easier to look at the “Nutrition Facts” for protein and carbohydrates on all meal replacement powders and bars. Some proteins such as eggs may be portioned out simply by looking at the, “Nutrition Facts,” on the label. Again, such foods as cottage cheese and milk also fall into this category.
You Will Face Resistance, At First
I worked in a large county business for exactly three years. When I first began, I was young and in fairly good shape (not to mention green). As I settled in, I became more serious about my eating and work out regimen. I constantly studied nutrition and weight training. (I was somewhat horrified to see the result of eating the provided county food for years). At first, my fellow co-workers teased me about the food I brought and made “questionable” comments about my meal replacement shakes. Then a funny thing happened. As I leaned out and became more toned, these same people who had poked fun at me quietly pulled me aside. Most of them not only wanted to know exactly what I was eating, but also insisted I write out a work out plan for them. Before I knew it, I had gained the respect of my entire shift as well as my Supervisors and their Supervisors. To this day, co-workers still contact me for advice.
Conclusion
Don’t take things too seriously. You probably will mess up. Don’t worry about it. Look at the big picture. Where do you want to be in a year? What do you want to look like? Put that image in your head and make it real. And as one of my clients once told me, “If you fall off the wagon, don’t stop and build a house”.
I like that.
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